IPO Watch: ChinaEdu

ChinaEdu
www.chinaedu.com
(Nasdaq: CEDU)
Scheduled for Dec. 10
$52.4 million estimated proceeds
$214.3 million post-money valuation

Education companies have made popular IPOs in recent months and so have Chinese companies. ChinaEdu is the logical extension — an education company based in China. Talk about the bankers being on top of trends. ChinaEdu provides online programs to supplement the offerings at several Chinese universities, operates its own private online K-12 tutoring company and private elementary schools, and offers online English courses to Chinese speakers no matter where they are.

China has a high rate of basic literacy, and many Chinese people know that they need even more education to compete in a rapidly industrializing nation and a global economy. Hence, they are willing to pay extra to educate themselves and their children. ChinaEdu was formed in 1999 to provide online services at Renmin University of China. The core business contracts with campuses rather than directly with students, but acquisitions into the tutoring, elementary and vocational educational markets have brought ChinaEdu face to face with the students who use its services.

The proceeds of the deal will be split between general corporate use and capital spending, including opening a network of learning centers and construction at a private elementary school and at a language school. Some of the venture capital firms are reducing their ownership, but not all are. After the IPO is priced, the officers and directors will own about a quarter of the company and three venture investors, Tiger Global, Qing Li and The McGraw-Hill Companies, will own about another quarter. (McGraw Hill, of course, has a huge interest in education through its textbook divisions.)

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